Chains of Destiny
by blackrising
Summary: Azula captures Katara and decides to keep her as a slave. Will she be able to break her spirit? Does she even want to? Azutara Sadly, ON HIATUS. :
1. Prolouge

Disclaimer: Not mine, never was and probably never will be...*sigh*

Summary: A 'What if...' story. What if Ozai had sent Azula after Aang in the first season? What if Aang hadn't been captured? Okay, bad summary. Let's make this easy: Azula captures Katara and decides to keep her as a bodyslave. Will she be able to break her spirit? Does she even want to?

A/N: Aagh...I suck at summaries. It's better than it sounds...(I hope). Anyway, this idea came to me after I had read way to much Xena Conqueror stories....and definitely drank to much coffee...

Oh, and just so you know, this will be YURI! (More specifically Azutara) If you don't like this stuff, then DON'T read it. (Even though I have to admit I love flames. They are so amusing, they can entertain me all day XD)

This is not beta'd. I'm sure there will be mistakes, just try not to rub it in my face, okay?XD

Oh, and of course, feedback is LOVE! ;b

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Prolouge

The icy wind blew across the landscape, whirling up snow here and there. Seemingly unfaced by the cold, the woman standing tall on the deck of the imposing red ship let her lips curl into an almost canine smile.

Seeing the smile, most of the crew quickly found something to keep them busy. None of them was foolish enough to approach her now.

The woman was intimidating to those who didn't know her, and even more so to those who did.

While she wasn't overly tall or muscular, she radiated a power unfathomable to most. The look in her golden eyes, as cold as steel, could make a grown man's knees shake in fear.

„Princess Azula."

The grin on her face was quickly replaced with a scowl as she turned to the man who had approached her.

„What is it?" she snapped.

The soldier, clad in a uniform characteristic for the Fire Nation, bowed his head, obviously nervous under Azula's gaze and handed her a scroll.

„It's a message from Lord Ozai, Sir."

She nodded curtly and opened the scroll. The grin reappeared on her face as she scanned the contents of the scroll.

Finally.

_Azula bowed her head as she stood in front of her father, Fire Lord Ozai. She didn't know why he had wanted to see her, but she knew it had to be important. After all, he thought it was a waste of time to talk about unimportant things, as did she._

„_Azula."_

_She didn't answer, knowing that there was no need to._

„_General Zhao has some information concerning the Avatar, it seems."_

_Zhao stepped forward, a smug look on his face and puffed out his cheast. Azula just raised an eyebrow in disgust at his behaviour. He didn't deserve to be called General._

„_The Avatar appears to be hiding in a small village somewhere on the Southern Pole. I want you to find him. I don't care what happens to the village. You can take whatever you want." Ozai continued._

_Slowly, a grin spread on her face. This was a great opportunity._

_She could see the look of disbelief on Zhao's face as he heard that she was the one to go on this mission._

„_B-but, Mylord, I think, since I was the one who found him, it is my right to-"_

„_Silence."_

_Ozai's voice reverberated through the room, even though he had spoken in a calm voice. Instantly, Zhao stopped talking and bowed his head in submission._

„_Take as many ships as you need. I will send you a message, if we get his exact position."_

_Azula bowed once more, then quickly turned on her heels and strode out of the hall._

She looked at the scroll on her hands again. It was a map of the Southern Pole. The village was a little bit to the East of where the ship was currently located.

She quickly ordered her soldiers to set course and smiled predatory. Soon, she would have the Avatar in custody. She laughed gleefully at the though of her brother. He was never going to be accepted into the Fire Nation again.

Prolouge End

A/N: Well, so much for the background story, now we can get to the SMEXING!...Well, not really. It will take awhile before we get to the good

However, I may have to warn you that, while I will try to avoid non-consensual sex, there is still the aspect of the master-slave relationship. Besides, you know how Azula can be. When she wants something, she will get it, no matter what it takes. XD


	2. Chapter 1: When Fire and Water collide

A/N: This chapter was finished rather quickly. After all, normally it takes me at least a week to even get the beginning (What do you guys prefer? Speed or Quality? Cause I'm definitely not good enough to give you both...-.-)

Chapter 1: When Fire and Water Collide

Azula could spot the small village in the distance and sneered. It looked so primitive...

She knew that the villagers must have noticed the ship already, but she didn't care. It was unlikely that there were any waterbenders left. And even then Azula could have beaten them easily.

There was a reason why everyone feared her wrath, after all.

„How long until we reach the village?" she wanted to know from the man standing next to her, the one that had brought her the message.

„About 15 minutes, Sir."

She smiled, satisfied with the anwer. The soldier let out a sigh of relief, but quickly hurried away to help the rest of the crew, as she raised an eyebrow at his behaviour.

Another 10 minutes passed, while Azula stared at the village and the soldiers did everything to avoid her. She was in a good mood and in their eyes, that was just as bad as her being in a bad one.

Well, maybe not quite as much, but it was enough to scare them witless.

Finally, after another few minutes, the ship reached it's destination. Not bothering to slow down, the head of the ship sliced right through the ice, only stopping when it reached the outskirts of the small village, leaving the wall of ice meant for protection destroyed.

There was a hissing sound and slowly the door at the underside of the ship opened. Steam leaked from the open doorway as the cold air mingled with the warm one from inside the ship.

Azula stepped out, head held high and generally looking like the princess she was.

She began to step down the ramp, when she heard a scream. Looking up, she saw a boy, face covered in some ugly war paint, running towards her and holding up a weapon. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and, with one swift kick, sent the boy flying into a heap of snow to her side.

Stepping her foot on the snow-covered ground, she let her gaze wander over the villagers. They were all assembled before her, seemingly clueless as to what to do.

Azula smirked. She would have thought they were at least smart enough to hide in their houses. Well, it certainly made things easier. She put on a fake smile.

„How about we make this easy? You tell me where you have hidden the Avatar and I won't harm you or your village."

Inside, she laughed at her statement. She would destroy the village, no matter if they decided to tell here where the Avatar was or not. This way, she may at least get some information out of them.

At that moment, the boy attacked her again, this time throwing his weapon.

Azula sighed in exasperation. Why did those foolish Water Tribe Peasants never learn from their mistakes? She caught the weapon easily in mid-throw and flung it into the water.

With effort, she managed to keep the smile on her face.

„So?"

The villagers looked unsure and Azula's patience was wearing thin. Just as she was about to snap and order her soldiers to burn the village, a girl with an odd braid stepped forward, obviously being held back by an older woman. The old woman – her grandmother, perhaps? - tried to shush her, but apparently to no avail.

„He's not here, so take your men and leave us be!" the girl said, her arms folded in an almost aggressive manner.

Azula raised an eyebrow, studying the girl before her intently. The girl was definitely attractive, her skin, characteristic for the Water Tribe, a choclate-brown colour and her eyes a deep blue...or was it grey? It was hard to tell from where she was standing. However, she eyed the braid with an amused look in her eyes.

The girl must have noticed the amused look, because she narrowed her eyes and a light blush creeped into her cheeks.

Smirking, Azula motioned for her soldiers.

„Then I'm sure you won't have a problem with my men taking a look around, do you?"

Immediatly, the men began searching through the houses, opening chests and digging snow out of the way.

All the while, the girl shot her hostile looks, as if she would suddenly snap and start spewing fire.

She snickered inwardly, knowing that it wasn't very unlikely for her to be doing that.

As the search went on, Azula could feel her anger slowly starting to take over. Why did it take so long to find him?

The soldiers returned, all of them saying the same: He's gone.

In a matter of heartbeats, her slowly growing anger turned into a raging fire, ready to burn everything and everyone in it's path.

The Princess clenched her fists, willing herself not to lose control.

„Where is he?" she asked in a deadly calm voice. Even her own soldiers flinched at the tone she was using, knowing that it meant she was one step away from letting the beast out, from letting her anger control her.

While Azula was always a force to be reckoned with, she only showed the true power she held when her rage took over.

She stared at the girl in front of her, only letting a small part of her ire show through her eyes, but it was enough to make the girl swallow hard and take a few steps back.

„Where is he?" Azula asked again through clenched teeth.

The girl seemed to force herself to regain some of her bravery, before she answered.

„We don't know. He didn't say anything."

Everyone was silent for a moment, apparently trying to figure out what was going to happen next.

A few seconds passed, before the Princess let out a long breath and unclenched her fists.

Relief washed through the soldiers at that sight.

Back to normal, she plastered a cheery smile on her face.

„Well, I guess then I don't need you anymore." The fake smile fell from her face as quickly as it had appeared and was replaced with cruel smirk.

„Get them"

Instantly, the soldiers rushed forward, taking the villagers by surprise, and began to chain them up.

The girl screamed as she saw the boy who had attacked Azula earlier being clobbered as he tried to fight back.

Grinning gleefully, Azula grabbed the girl by her waist with one arm and held her hands captive behind her back with the other one.

„You said you wouldn't harm us!" the girl spat.

The Fire Nation Princess leaned down slightly to reach her ear.

„You shouldn't have trusted me." she whispered quietly.

She drew back and sneered, disgust marking her features.

„Well, but what else can you expect from a Water Tribe Peasant?"

The girl tried to kick her in the shin and she had to laugh at the weak blow. Grasping the struggling package in her arms tight, she slung the girl over her shoulder, not even paying attention to the blows raining down on her back.

„Katara!"

Azula whirled around and saw that boy running at her...again. She was annoyed at his stubborn behaviour.

Blue fire flaring up in her palm, she waited until he was near enough and struck him hard in the chest. He fell to the ground, not moving.

She couldn't see if he was breathing, but was pretty sure that he was alive. She hadn't hit him _that _ hard.

Suddenly, the blows on her back started again and the girl – Katara? - began screaming something into her ear.

Azula felt a headache already forming and was pretty sure she would kill the girl instead of sending her to the slave market if she didn't stop screaming.

She roughly held Katara's head still and lay two fingers on her temple. A short, sharp lightning bolt later, the girl was out cold and, thankfully, silent.

Chapter 1 End

A/N: Am I the only one who thinks that Katara's braid looks ridiculous?-.-

Anyway, it seems like Katara already got a taste of Azula's insane side. God, I love writing Azula completly and utterly Unfortunately, I need her to be at least somewhat sane for this story...but at least I can play with her a little, can't I? ;D

Oh, and I think it'd be wicked cool if Azula could knock people out by shooting a lightning bolt to the right spot, so I put it in the story. XD

Also, I figured Azula was the type of person who would jump from one mood to the other, all in a matter of seconds. (I dunno if it's OOC)

Well, was there anything else I wanted to say...oh, yeah...Feedback makes me a happy little author. :D


	3. Chapter 2: Captured in Darkness

A/N: _Very _short chapter this time...*shrug* Next one will be longer.^^ (and from Azula's POV....more or less)

Chapter 2: Captured in Darkness

Katara groaned and slowly tried to open her eyes. Blinking confusedly, she sat up.

Where was she? Everything was dark and her head hurt terribly. The ground was cold and hard, so she guessed it was stone.

Slowly her eyes got used to the dark and she could see a little clearer. Not that it helped.

She tried to stand up, but found that she was bound to some sort of post embedded into the ground.

By now Katara could pretty much guess that she had to be in a dungeon. However, her memory was still a little fuzzy, so she tried hard to remember what had happened.

Her village had been attacked...by...the Fire Nation.

Now everything came flooding back and she slumped against the wall to her left, shaking.

They had captured her people....and probably destroyed the village completly.

And Sokka...was he dead?

Choking back sobs, she berated herself for such thoughts. He couldn't be dead. It just wasn't possible.

Staring at the ground, she wondered what had happened to the other villagers. Did they kill them?

Probably not. If they had wanted to, they could have done so without capturing them first.

Her brooding was interrupted by a loud clanking noise.

Then a door she hadn't noticed before opened and light was pouring into her cell. Katara quickly shut her eyes to avoid looking directly into it. But even so her eyes hurt from the brightness.

She could hear steps and then she felt the tip of a boot poke into her side.

„Get up, you scum!" a gruff voice snarled.

Opening her eyes a little bit, she was relieved to notice that the light didn't seem so bright anymore.

She squinted into the face of the man before her. An ugly scar ran from his left eyebrow to his chin, he looked like he hadn't bathed in years and the hate in his eyes made her flinch.

„Your lunch."

He threw something at her and it bounced off her chest and fell to the floor. Realising how hungry she was, she reached for the piece of bread slowly, careful not to let him out of her sight.

Just as she was about to grab it, the soldier lifted his leg and violently stomped on her hand with his heavy boot.

Katara let out a small cry at the pain and tried to retrieve her hand but he only put more pressure on it.

„Water Tribe scum like you doesn't deserve goo food like that." he snorted.

With his other foot, the one that was not busy bruising her hand, he started grinding the food into the dirty stone floor.

He laughed loudly.

„Now that seems more appropriate, don't you think?"

Still snickering, the soldier turned around and headed for the open door.

Katara cradled her bruised and slightly swollen hand as the door shut with a loud clank.

She glared at the closed door, fighting to keep her tears at bay.

Now that the room was engulfed in seemingly impenetrable darkness once more, her brain was inevitably starting to _think_...which was not a good thing right now.

It was all her fault. She should have told her people to run and hide or at least to fight and get as much of them as possible to safety.

Instead she had trusted that...woman...to keep her word. How could she have been so foolish? Her brother had always told her that she was too trustful and naive for her own good.

Now she knew that he had been right all along.

A/N: Did I already mention that it's fun to let Katara suffer a little bit? (Don't worry, it'll get better....just not in the next few chapters XD ) Also, I noticed it's pretty boring to write a chapter without Azula in it. So, a little more interaction between Azula and Katara in the next one.^^


	4. Chapter 3: Interrogation

A/N: Thanks for all the lovely reviews! :D

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Chapter 3: Interrogation

Azula strode down the hallway leading to the dungeons. She was fuming. Her father had ben sorely dissappointed to see her coming back without the Avatar.

Faliure was not something the Fire Lord was willing to tolerate for long. Especially not from his own flesh and blood.

She clenched her fists angrily. She had always taken pride in the fact that she _never_ failed at anything. Not at firebending and certainly not at capturing a 12-year old boy.

The last thing she wanted was to be anything like her brother Zuko. He had always been the black...or should she say the white sheep of the family. Both his will and his firebending were weak and so his banishment had come as no surprise to the Fire Nation Princess.

Arriving at her destination, Azula ordered the guard, a coarse man with an ugly scar in his face, to open the door to the cell the Water Tribe girl currently inhabitated.

He hurried to obey, noticing her bad mood, and then quickly stepped out of the way, trying not to get in her way and anger her further.

Stepping into the small room, she instantly noticed a small figure lying motionless on the floor.

Azula just hoped the girl wasn't dead...she needed all the information she could get.

Stopping in front of the peasant, she crouched down and turned the girl's head slightly with one hand, while feeling for her pulse with the other.

Satisfied to feel the strong pumping of blood beneath her fingertips, she looked up from her task and noticed the girl staring at her wide-eyed, panic turning her blue eyes an almost stormy grey.

Katara quickly broke Azula's hold on her face by scrambling away from her as far as she could. She only stopped when her shackles prevented her from going any further.

The Fire Nation Princess smirked at the girl's obvious fear and stood up, never letting her gaze stray from Katara's shaking form.

„Don't tell me you're afraid, Peasant. After all, you were so brave the first time we met."

Her mocking tone left no doubt that Azula had been highly amused by Katara's last show of bravado.

The shaking subsided and, while the fear was not gone, her eyes held now an unmistakable trace of anger.

The Fire Nation Princess couldn't help but notice with some fascination that the girl's eyes had changed their colour once more and were now a vibrant blue.

„What have you done with my people?" Katara spat, not willing to make it easy for the woman in front of her.

Azula snorted in amusement.

„Can you give me one reason why I should tell you this?"

The girl just continued to glare at her. She smirked and raised a mocking eyebrow.

„Just as I thought."

Azula took a few steps forward, hovering menacingly over the Water Tribe girl.

Katara, who was still glaring like her life depended on it, could feel the power radiating off the woman before her in waves.

Crouching down in front of the girl again, the Fire Nation Princess grabbed her chin roughly, forcing azure eyes to look into her own.

„You have two options." she drawled in a sickly sweet voice. „Either you decide to be stubborn and bear the consequences," The hand that had been holding Katara's chin wandered down to her neck and squeezed, not enough to cut off the air supply, but enough to make her intentions clear.

„Or you give me what I want and I just might take pity on you and your tribe."

Azula now started to lightly stroke the the girl's tense jaw, almost gentle in her administrations, her eyes flashing predatory.

Katara's breath grew slightly uneven at the way the Princess' was staring at her, but chalked it up to the panic slowly creeping it's way back into her brain.

She tried to swallow but found that her throat had gone dry, which was not surprising, considering that she was beyond thirsty and hadn't dared to ask the guard for some water.

„And what is it that you want?" she asked, fighting hard to keep her voice steady.

Azula smirked, stopping her hands' actions and leaning forward.

„Information." she purred into the girl's ear.

Katara's whole body tensed, but she tried her best to appear unaffected by the danger lingering ominously in the air.

The Princess drew back, amused that the peasant had gone completly still at her close proximity. It was clear how scared she was, despite the bravado she displayed.

„I already told you that I don't know anything."

The Water Tribe girl's voice had gone quiet. She could feel exhaustion seeping into her and just wished the woman in front of her would go and leave her alone.

Azula noticed the girl's slumped shoulders and considered letting her off the hook for now but quickly decided against it, since the probability of getting something out of her was higher when she was exhausted.

„You see, I don't believe that."

She grabbed a hanfull of Katara's hair – her braid had become undone sometime during the night – and pulled her head back forcefully, which earned her a little whimper.

„Maybe you need a little bit more...encouragement? The boy who attacked me...who was he? Your boyfriend? Your brother?"

The girl's eyes met her own and Azula was pleased to see the panic in them.

„Until now I had no intention of hurting him, but if you're not willing to tell me what I want to hear, I just might have to get the information from him. And I won't be as kind as I am now."

Her voice was now barely a whisper, which only made her sound more dangerous to Katara.

The Princess let a flame appear in her hand, bathing the room an icy blue.

„Do you know how much pain this little flame can inflict?" she asked quietly and eyed the fire licking at her skin almost lovingly.

„Imagine it engulfing your whole body, producing just enough heat to burn every part of you without killing you or letting you slip into unconsciousness..."

A cruel smile spread over her face.

„Do you really want that to happen to him?"

Tears of despair filled Katara's eyes and her whole body quivered with suppressed fury.

Not caring about the consequences that were sure to follow, she raised her hand and struck out at the woman before her.

Having anticipated the move, Azula captured the hand easily in her own before it could make contact and squeezed hard.

Katara cried out sharply at the intense pain shooting from the nerves of her already bruised hand to her brain. In her anger, she had forgotten about it. Even though she fought it with all her might, she couldn't stop a few tears from running down her cheeks.

Taken aback, the Princess raised an eyebrow at the girl's extreme reaction. She hadn't expected her to burst into tears because of a little bit of pain.

Then she noticed that Katara's hand in her own was shaking and the unusual warmth coming from it.

As she moved it to have a closer look, the girl flinched and more tears trickled down her face.

Azula instantly noticed that the hand was swollen and frowned at the sight.

„Who did this?" she asked coldly.

Surprised at the question, it took Katara a few seconds before she quietly answered „The guard."

The Princess took a deep breath to calm herself and stood up.

„We will continue this some other time. You better have an aswer for me by then." she told the girl and quickly moved out of the cell, aware of Katara's confused gaze on her back.

She closed the door behind her and waited for the guard to lock it.

When he was done, she purposely stepped into his personal space and grabbed him roughly by his red collar. Her eyes flashed dangerously and he gulped.

„I will tell you this excacly once and I hope for your sake that I won't have to repeat myself."

Her voice was casual and stood in stark contrast to the rage in her eyes. It made his knees shake in fear.

„You will never again lay a hand on my property, do you understand? _Never _again."

The guard nodded fervently, almost wetting himself.

„Good."

Azula let go of him and strode to the door to leave. Stopping, she turned around again and fixed him with an icy stare that did not tolerate disobedience.

„Get the healer and tell him to take a look at her hand."

Bowing his head, he scurried out of the room as fast as he could, relieved to get away from the Princess.

She hoped for him that the girl hadn't suffered permanent damage. Bodyslaves were worth much more than normal slaves, especially virgins. However, nobody would buy a bodyslave that couldn't use one of her hands.

Angrily, she strode out of the dungeons, intending to work off some of her anger by training her firebending skills.

End of Chapter 3

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A/N: Ugh, it's hard to write Azula treating Katara bad when you just want them to cuddle and be happy XD. Well, at least she was angry at the guard for hurting Katara, even though it was only because he damaged her property.^^;

Also, I try to write Azula like she was in the beginning. Cruel and a total liar, but not bat-shit insane.*grin* However, it's hard to find the right balance between too nice and too crazy, so I apologize if any of you don't like how I write her.^^


	5. Chapter 4: Planning

A/N: A short chapter...again. I don't have much time to write at the moment due to schoolwork. In fact, I just finished this chapter even though I really need to study for a math test on monday. I'm SO going to screw this up...anyway, nothing much happens in this chapter, actually. Hope you enjoy it anyway. Next one will be standard size again (about 1500 words). Promise!

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Chapter 4

Katara stared at the closed door in confusion. One moment the Princess had been threatening her brother, and the next she had just left.

Furrowing her brow, she looked at her hand, still throbbing with pain. The Princess' anger about the injury had been obvious, but the Water Tribe girl was clueless as to why.

It couldn't have been out of concern or sympathy, she knew that much. Katara could tell from the way the soldiers said her name, their voices full of fear and even some admiration.

Only the most ruthless of warriors got that kind of reaction from their own men.

A short while later, she heard the door open once more and looked up, expecting to see either Azula or the guard that had treated her so roughly. The Water Tribe girl was astonished to find that she'd rather face the Princess again than the guard.

She eyed the old, bald man that stepped into the room suspiciously. While he didn't seem particulary hostile, he was still Fire Nation and therefore not to be trusted.

The man stepped forward and smiled slightly.

„Princess Azula sent me down here." he said, crouching down before her.

He must have noticed her eyes widning and her body tensing, because he hurried to reassure her. „I'm a healer. She asked me to take a look at your hand."

Katara wasn't fully convinced, but held out her hand anyway. Gently, the old man started to inspect it, brow furrowed.

After about five minutes, he smiled slightly.

„It doesn't seem to be broken. However, the bone may have been fractured."

He rumadged through the bag by his side, apparently searching for something.

„I will give you some medication against the pain and then bandage your hand to avoid any further injuries."

He held out his hand, some sort of herb in his palm.

„Take this. In about five minutes, the pain will be gone."

Katara hesitantly reached out, the temptation of getting rid of the pain greater than her suspiciouness.

Gulping down the medication, she narrowed her eyes at the bitter taste.

The healer carefully started to bandage her hand, trying not to hurt her too much. The Water Tribe girl noted with relief that the pain seemed to fade away and relaxed her tense body somewhat.

After the old man was done, he stood up and dusted himself off.

„All done. It will take about two weeks until it is completly healed."

Opening the door, he turned around to face her once more and smiled reassuringly.

„I don't know if this makes the situation for you better or worse, but...I don't think you will have to stay here much longer."

At her questioning glance, her continued softly, compassion evident in his voice.

„Princess Azula intends to sell you and your tribe as slaves. While it is not a fate anyone should have to endure, you have at least chance, no matter how small it may be, to lead a happy life.

That's more than I can say for being stuck in a place like this."

With a last, sympathetic glance in her direction, he closed the door behind him and Katara could hears the sound of his steps fading away.

She slumped her shoulders and sighed heavily. So that's why they've been captured. They were going to be sold as slaves. She couldn't say that she was surprised.

Katara closed her eyes as a wave of sleepiness washed over her, probably a side-effect of the herb the healer had given her.

Her thoughts wandered to her people once more, wondering what they were enduring right now before her breathing evened and her mind slipped into darkness.

She woke to the sound of the door to her cell opening and squinted to see who had entered.

The Water Tribe Girl held her breath as she saw the guard with the scar standing in the open doorway. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was tense.

With clenched teeth, he placed a tray with bread, a small piece of cheese and a bowl of water on the floor before her.

„Your meal." he ground out and hurried out of the cell before slamming the door shut.

Puzzled, she stared after him, wondering what Azula had done to the soldier.

Katara almost smirked at the image of the man being reprimanded, but it quickly faded away as her stomach expressed it's disdain at being denied food for longer than necessary.

She was relieved to find that the bread and the cheese were fresh - or at least not foul - and began to devour it eagerly.

When she had finished her food, she eyed the waterbowl thoughtfully. While her throat was beyond dry, she didn't want to waste the water. Maybe she could use it to escape, since they apparently didn't know she was a waterbender.

However, she wasn't very good at it. Since she was the only waterbender of her tribe, there hadn't been anyone to teach her.

Even though there was no way she would be able to beat a trained Fire Nation soldier or even the Princess herself with what little skill she possesed, the waterbender was determined to try.

It was her duty to protect her people and she would do everything she could to fulfill it.

Katara pushed the bowl off to the side, so nobody would accidently trip over it and spill the water.

Still feeling exhausted, she closed her eyes again, intending to get as much rest as possible before the time to take action came.

To be continued....

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A/N: Yeah, as I already said...not much of anything in this chapter. The next chapter will probably be about Katara's intention to escape....and Azula's reaction to that.


	6. Chapter 5: Runaway I

A/N: YAY! New chapter...:D Thanks for all the lovely reviews. I really appreciate them.^^

Since I have holidays right now, there are probably going to be a few more chapters in the next two weeks...unless I feel totally unmotivated and can't get my lazy ass off the couch long enough to type something. XD

Also, I kinda feel the need to add that I always imagined Azula to be around 17 or something. I was rather dumbfounded when I found out she was actually 14. In this fanfiction I picture Azula to be 17 and Katara to be 15 or 16...mainly because it's kinda awkward for me to portray a girl who's the same age as me as a slave. (Don't ask me why...I just can't write a..uh...naughty scene when I always have to think about the fact that Katara's just 14...yeah, I'm weird...XD)

Of course, you can just ignore everything I just said/wrote and let them keep their original age in your mind. :D

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Chapter 5: Runaway I

Katara opened her eyes and wondered what time it was. It was hard to tell, since there were no windows in the cell. However, she felt well rested and noted that her hand didn't hurt all that much.

She glanced at the waterbowl resting to her right and swallowed nervously.

If she was lucky, the Water Tribe girl would be able to surprise the guard with her waterbending the next time he came in and she could run past him out of the cell.

If she wasn't.....well, she didn't dare think about it.

She knew how futile it was for her to try and escape. After all, she didn't even know where she was, not to mention that this place was probably packed with trained soldiers.

Her only option was to run and hope she was fast enough to free her tribe. Katara shook her head slightly. Now was not the time to have doubts about her plan.

The waterbender could hear heavy steps outside the door and tensed. While Azula's pace was rather...agressive, Katara had noticed that it was also almost soundless, therefore it had to be the guard with the scar approaching the door.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she held both of her hands over the waterbowl and began to weave her hands through the air carefully, drawing the water out of the bowl and hiding them behind her back, as to not alert the soldier when he came in.

When the door opened, Katara closed her eyes, feigning sleep. The heavy steps came nearer and stopped in front of her.

Something was set on the ground - food, she guessed - and the steps retreated again. Forcing herself to breathe calmly, the waterbender opened her eyes, seeing the guard's back turned to her.

She fixed her gaze at the guards neck, aiming carefully, before she made a quick motion with her hands, which sent the water lashing out at her target.

The man grunted once before he sank in a heap to the floor, unconscious. Katara let out the breath she had been holding and stared at her hands for a few seconds, amazed at the fact that she had actually suceeded in her task.

Crawling forward on her knees, she started rummaging through the guard's clothes, searching for the key to the shackle on her ankle.

Freeing herself with the key, she stood up and sighed relieved. It was good to be able to strech her legs again.

However, she had to hurry. Katara didn't know how long the guard would be out and she prefered to be gone from the cell long before he regained consciousness.

She looked out of the door carefully, gauging if it was safe for her to make her exit. Seeing nothing but a wooden table with a candle burning on it, she stepped out of her cell and made her way to the stairs leading to...well the rest of whichever building she was in. Her top priority at the moment was to find the place her tribe was held captive and to get them out of there.

The waterbender guessed that they had to be in another dungeon and that it wouldn't be hard to find it. How hard could it be? This place couldn't be _that _big, could it?

Katara tried her best to move cautiously, yet fast, hiding in the shadows when she thought she heard someone coming.

She encountered surprisingly few soldiers on her way. Either this place wasn't big enough to house more guards, or they were just really confident that it didn't take more than that to prevent any problems that might occur.

Since she had been searching for that damn staircase for over 15 minutes now, she could rule out the the first option. It made her even more nervous than she already was.

Katara could hear two male voices chattering, coming in her direction. Quickly, she let her eyes roam over her surroundings, searching for a hiding place.

She ducked into an alcove in the wall, her heart racing and her brain making up the wildest scenarios, all dealing with the possibility of her being captured.

Cowering in the shadows, she listened to the men's conversation intently, hoping to gather some information concerning the whereabouts of her people.

"Did you hear anything new?"

"Well, I heard that Lord Ozai's pretty pissed 'cause Princess Azula came back without the Avatar."

"Really? I heard that she captured him...along with that Water Tribe. She did bring someone to a solitary cell, didn't she? I bet that it was the Avatar."

"Nah, did you see her today? I was surprised she didn't pop a vein or something. You really don't want to get near her right now."

"But if it wasn't the Avatar, who did she bring to that cell?"

"Well, from what I heard, it was a girl from the Water Tribe. And pretty attractive, too."

"Attractive, eh? Maybe we could...pay her a visit."

Katara heard the leer in his voice and suppressed a disgusted shudder. The sooner she found her people the better.

The other soldier laughed loudly.

"Sure, if you can deal with the fact that Princess Azula's probably going to rip off a....very important part of you after that."

"Why should she mind us playing with the girl a little after she's done with her?"

The men had stopped near the alcove Katara was hiding in and she rolled her eyes. These soldiers were starting to annoy her with their rude comments.

"I don't think she's someone who likes to share. Besides, chances are, if the girl's a virgin, that Princess Azula's going to sell her as a body slave. You know how much money virgins bring on the slave market...not that they need it, mind you."

The waterbender felt herself becoming depressed by the reminder of her certain fate. She shook her head to clear it, forcing herself to think of her tribe and that she would do everything to free them instead of herself and the undoubtly horrible things future had in store for her.

"I think she should keep the girl. Damn, what I wouldn't give to get a glimpse of that."

The soldier stared into space, a leer fixed firmly on his face. The other one slapped him on the shoulder, grinning.

"You better not let our Princess hear this or she'll hunt you down and burn your sorry ass. Come on, let's get going. I want to finish my round and get to the pub."

The voices were getting lower and lower until they were gone completly. Katara let out a sigh of relief, stepping out of her hiding place, determined to get her tribe to safety, no matter what might happen with her.

*****************************

Azula stood in the middle of her training room, breathing calmly and evenly. Firebending was all about control. To master it, you had to have complete control over your body and your emotions. The Fire Nation Princess knew that she wasn't known for emotional control, but appearances could be deceiving. Yes, it was true that it was hard for her to keep her rage in check but it _never _got to the point where she would loose control completly. She would see it as a failure on her part and that was unacceptable.

Azula started to first move her hands, then her arms and finally her whole body in a tantalizing flow, weaving her arns through the air in a calm pattern, breathing deeply and keeping her thoughts and emotions in a tight hold.

Her movements started to quick with every passing minute, her arm's motions becoming more forceful, even aggressive.

Suddenly, she stopped all movement, standing stock-still, before delivering a swift, hard punch to the air in front of her, unleashing a smoldering wave of white-hot fire, casting azure shadows on the stone wall.

As the last flames of blue died down, Azula relaxed her posture, sweat dripping off her forehead and running down her collarbone. The bandages wrapped around her chest were drenched in sweat, the muscles in her taut stomach rippling under her glistening skin and her pants clinging to her hips.

She had been training for about 3 hours now and was exhausted, but she didn't even consider stopping. She wasn't the second best firebender in the whole Fire Nation for nothing, after all.

The Princess had worked hard to be as good as she was. While her brother had prefered to cling to their mother and do silly things like feeding the ducks, Azula had gotten up earlier than anyone else, including her father, to train her firebending skills.

She'd also rather flung stones at the ducks than feed them, but that was just because they'd annoyed her. Ozai had taught her all her life to take matters into her own hands and always be determined and unyielding, never letting an opportunity to benefit from something pass, no matter who had to suffer for it.

Azula stretched her lean body, relishing the feel of her aching muscles. For her, it meant she had suceeded in getting stronger, in honing her firebending skills, in getting _better_ than she already was. This were the moments she lived for...this moment of strenght, of having accomplished something. Not only for her father but also for herself. It made her feel...useful. Like she was in control of her life and, to some degree, of the people around her, too.

The Fire Nation Princess had just begun to go through another routine, when the door flung open and a soldier rushed inside, almost tripping over his own feet.

She stopped in mid-motion, turning to the intruder and shooting him a death glare. Everyone knew that she _hated _to be interrupted during one of her training sessions. She just hoped he had a good reason for being here or she might just be forced to show him exacly _why _nobody wanted to get on her bad side.

Then she noticed who that guard was, since it was kind of hard to miss the ugly scar on his face.

Her eyes narrowed and she couldn't shake the feeling that something very unpleasant had happened.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice a dangerous growl.

The man in front of her tried not to appear as frightened as he was, but his effort quickly dissolved into nothing at the withering stare she directed at him. At times like this, her golden eyes seemed even more feral than they already did and it plain scared anyone who came near her.

"I-..Well, she...the girl..-" he stammered, looking at the floor intently.

_"Yes?" _Azula's voice was strained in her effort to stay patient.

"She...escaped."

There was silence for a few seconds while the Princess just stared at the guard, her jaw tensing and her eyebrow rising up a notch.

_".?" _she hissed out between clenched teeth, already designing a plan to make the guard's death a very slow and painful one should he have anything to do with this.

"I...Well, I brought her lunch and when I had my back turned to her...she hit me."

Now both of her eyebrows climbed up just a little higher. She didn't know whether to be angry or highly amused by this. One of her soldiers getting knocked out by a young girl...a Water Tribe Peasant no less. It seemed like she had underestimated Katara a great deal...or maybe the guard was just immensely incompetent.

"She...hit you? And you got knocked out from that hit?"

Azula was now definitely more amused than anything else but kept the scowl on her face. It pleased her greatly to see 'Scar Face' suffer a little.

The guard blushed in embarrassement and hurried to defend himself: "I wasn't prepared! Nobody told me that she was a waterbender, so...."

The Fire Nation Princess' eyes widened slightly in surprise, but not enough to let the soldier see it.

The peasant was a waterbender? Well, that certainly was a rather surprising turn of events.

She noticed with some apprehension that her fascination with the girl seemed to grow. For the first time, Azula actually considered keeping the peasant to herself instead of selling her.

Internal, she was smirking at the thought. It would certainly have it's advantages.

She was pulled out of her musings apruptly when Scar Face spoke up again: "Do you want me to gather the soldiers and search for her?"

She thought for a moment before shaking her head and grinning.

"No. I'll get her back personally."

Without further explanation, she grabbed her shirt and strode out of the door to get a shower before searching for the girl. She was sure that Katara wouldn't be able to leave this place anytime soon. There was nobody who didn't get lost in this place the first time they were here. So she had plenty of time.

The guard just stared after her, slightly dumbfounded. It was very rare for the Princess to spend her free time with something as trivial as re-capturing a stray peasant.

Then he snickered lightly. He hoped that she would give the girl what she deserved. Namely, a place in the dungeons for her to rot. Still grinning gleefully at the thought of that lowly peasant dying slowly and painfully, he made his way out of the room and to his previous position in the dungeons.

TBC

********************

A/N: I kinda fear that I may not have gotten Azula quite right in this chapter. It may just be me being my usual pessimistic self, but...I haven't written her since the last time I...well, I posted. XD

Yeah, I think she's too...I dunno...soft in this chapter. (but it's probably just me..)

So, anyway, feed me reviews to make my little inner attention whore feel motivated so she slaps me and forces me to write the next chapter! ;D


	7. Chapter 6: Runaway II

A/N: I'm back! And I'm terribly sorry for the long delay and the fact that I'm such a lazy bastard. I actually intended to make this chapter longer, but I just wanted to post something to let you know that I'm not dead yet. My love for Avatar and it's fandom has finally returned to me, and it's just as strong as ever! I'll have another chapter up by Saturday, if not sooner.

**************************

Chapter 6: Runaway II

Katara was lost. Hoplessly so.

She didn't know why she hadn't noticed it sooner. This was the third time she had passed this particular statue and yet she still didn't recognize anything else.

Were the situation not so dire, she'd actually feel tempted to laugh. Instead she felt more desperate with each passing minute. Time was the one thing she didn't have. With every moment it became more likely for her to be discovered.

By now, the guard must have woken up and Azula probably already knew about her dissappearance.

She resisted the urge to bury her head in her hands and instead just groaned pitifully. She had always prided herself as someone who thought things through before doing something stupid. Maybe the herbs the healer had given her affected her ability to think rationally? Then again she didn't feel any different than normal. Most likely the events of the previous days had taken their toll on her.

She tensed when the sound of steps reched her ears and quickly ducked behind the statue, hoping the shadows would do their part and keep whoever was coming from seeing her.

Once again, two soldiers, albeit different ones than before, made their way down the corridor, chatting and laughing.

„Was he really stupid enough to try that?"

The soldier with the beard snickered lightly before answering.

„Well, what did you expect from such a lowly peasant? He didn't even have enough brains to wait for a good opportunity. He just screamed and ran...right into the arms of one of the guard's of course."

Katara groaned in her secret hideout. That sounded exactly like something Sokka would do. She desperately hoped she was wrong this time.

Her eyes never left the men and she gulped when they stopped right in front of the statue she was using as a shield from prying eyes.

„And what happened to him?"

The bearded soldier signified the other man to move closer and his voice became hushed.

„I don't know exactly what happened, but I heard from a friend that..."

Katara perked up her ears, but his voice was too low for her to understand more than a few snippets. She held her breath and inched closer, pressing herself against the statue and taking care not to reveal herself. It wasn't enough. She leaned forwards slightly, her hands holding onto the the carefully crafted piece of stone in front of her for some kind of leverage. She almost let out a shriek when said leverage started to give way all of sudden but caught herself at the last moment.

She stumbled and gripped the statue harder, praying with all her being that it wouldn't fall over. She must have done something really terrible in one of her previous lives however, because the stone tilted more and more until it finally crashed to the ground, cracking the marble floor beneath and immediatly alarming not only the soldiers in front of her, but probably also half of the other people residing here.

Katara froze as one of the men shouted something to the other one she couldn't understand. The pounding in her ears seemed to drown out everything else and she could do nothing but stare in panic at the two soldiers closing in on her. She knew she should do something, run away or kick and scream, but the shock of being discovered had rendered her momentarily paralyzed.

The bearded man grabbed her biceps and she was forcibly shaken out of her stupor as he roughly dragged her away from where she had been standing. That was when she finally started to put up some resistance. Katara kicked him in the shin as hard as she could and was satisfied when he cursed and let go of her to hold his leg.

She didn't stay to watch him jump around like an idiot, instead she took off down the corridor. She had no idea where she was going and frankly, she didn't care anymore, as long as it was far away from here.

She gasped as an arm came around her neck, choking her and pulling her back. Katara clawed at the limb and struggled to get away, but the soldier's arms were hard and unyielding.

She suceeded in punching her captor with one of her legs, but instead of letting her go, he growled.

„Damn peasant."

The next thing Katara knew was a sharp pain in her right temple and a veil over darkness descending over her.

*************************

Azula strode through the corridors, her hair still damp from the shower - which had actually just consisted of a few bucks of water and lots of scrubbing – and kept her eyes open in search for her lost property. She hadn't yet decided what to do with the girl once she had found her. She couldn't properly punish her without leaving any marks and that would lower her price on the market. Azula knew she had to do _something_, though. She definitely wouldn't stand for that peasant thinking she could do whatever she wanted and get away with it.

Maybe she should threaten to give her to the soldiers if she didn't obey. Not that she'd actually do it, not with the money she would get by keeping the girl virginal until she could sell her, but she could already see the wide eyes, shimmering with tears and smell the fear emanating from the peasant.

Azula smirked and quickened her pace, her mind already busy with pleasant thoughts of tormenting the little waterbender.

************************

Katara opened her eyes slowly, blinking a few times and trying to see where she was. She immediatly noticed that she was carried by someone, who had apparently slung her over their shoulder. Her mind quickly provided her with the needed information of what had happened and she concluded that one of the soldiers must have picked her up and carried her back to the dungeon now, or worse, straight to Azula.

Katara didn't lift her head, hoping to foll them into believing she was still out cold. Maybe she could use that to her advantage. She tried to relay her body as much as possible and calmed her breathing, listening intently as the guards started talking.

„Where are we taking her anway?"

The soldier who carried her sighed in annoyance.

„Back to the dungeons of course, you dumbass. I've no idea how she managed to get out of there, but we have to make sure she's firmly locked up, together with the rest of that filthy pack of rats."

Katara perked up her ears. They apparently didn't know that she was supposed to be in a solitary cell, just as the other two soldiers she had encountered. Could she actually be lucky for once?

„Shouldn't we inform Princess Azula? She might want to know that one almost escaped."

„Are you crazy? You know exactly how fond she is of punishing the bearer of bad news. So if you don't want to end up in tiny, smoldering pieces, this better stays between us."

„So we just throw her in with the other ones and pretend this never happened?"

„Exactly."

Katara held back a sigh of relief. Unknowingly, these two had just made her task a lot easier. They would bring her straight to her tribe. Now she just had to find a way to get them out of there without ending up as a prisoner herself again. Katara desperately hoped that it only sounded so difficult in her head.

TBC

A/N: So, Katara's actually lucky for once. Or not, depends how you look at it. ^^;


	8. Chapter 7: Runaway III

A/N: Alright, the chapter was getting longer than I expected, so I split it once again. Otherwise it wouldn't have been finished soon enough.^^;

Runaway III

Azula was getting frustrated. This was taking longer than she had expected. She had been searching the area near the dungeons the girl had inhabitated, but there was no sign of her whatsoever. She really didn't have the nerve to play hide and seek with the waterbender. Maybe she should have sent some soldiers to search for her instead of doing it herself. Azula growled in annoyance, turning around another corner after once again finding nothing in the previous coridor.

The Fire Nation Princess would never admit it, but she had underestimated the girl. She had expected her to last an hour at most, before getting caught by one of the soldiers or giving up. Instead, the waterbender was still running around somewhere on the lowest floor of the palace (except for the dungeons).

Before she could hit a wall to vent her frustration, something on the floor caught her eye. She stepped closer and realized it was a statue, which had obviously fallen over, since the floor beneath it was cracked. Azula narrowed her eyes and sniffed at the air, catching the hint of a scent that seemed familiar to her. After a moment, she was able to associate it with the waterbender and frowned. She didn't know what had happened here, but the girl couldn't be very far.

*******************************

Katara lifted her head just enough to be able to see the ground. They had passed through a door a little while ago and now they were apparently going down a long staircase.

She forced herself to breath calmly, even though her heart was racing in her chest and her stomach was churning uncomfortably.

What would she do once they were there? She had no idea. The waterbender knew that she had to get the key to the cell and she couldn't very well do that once she was already inside of it.

She was caught by surprise as the guard grabbed her hips and lay her down on the floor, propping her up against the cold stone wall.

Katara kept her eyes closed and listened intently. One of the guards opened a wooden door in front of them.

„Hey, Thao, you lost something."

Katara heard steps coming closer and dared to open one of her eyes just a slit wide. The guard standing in the doorway seemed to be pretty young and unlike most of the other Fire Nation soldiers, he didn't emanate an air of arrogance and confidence. In fact, he seemed to be rather nervous.

„W-what do you mean?"

The bearded soldier pointed to her and she quickly closed her eye again, hoping they hadn't noticed she was awake.

„We found her sneaking around in one of the corridors."

Thao looked at the unconscious girl on the floor in puzzlement.

„I-I haven't noticed anyone missing. Actually,I d-don't think she belongs to the group that was brought in."

The biggest of the three grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and brought the young man's face close to his, lifting him up off the ground.

„You are not supposed to _think_, boy. Just follow you goddamn orders. Look at her and tell us how she looks."

Thao glanced at Katara again, before adverting his eyes and looking at the floor.

„She's...uh...pretty?"

The waterbender opened her eyes again, seeing how the young man was shaken roughly and hearing the laughter of the two coarse soldiers filling the small corridor.

„No, boy. Tell us _exactly _what she looks like."

„Uhm, s-she's got brown hair, da-dark skin and wears a blue garb?"

The guard set him down and dusted him off violently, making him almost fall over.

„Very good, boy. And that means what?"

Thao's shoulders slumped and he looked anywhere but at the men in front of him, feeling humiliated but knowing he could do nothing about it. Katara almost felt pity for him.

„That she's from the Water Tribe."

The soldiers nodded satisfied and turned to go.

„Throw her to the other rats and this time, _keep _her locked up."

They dissappeared up the stairs, still chuckling.

Thao sighed, ruffling his unruly, brown hair and glancing at Katara again, who kept her eyes firmly shut.

He stepped nearer hesitantly, clearing his throat uncomfortably, before taking both of her arms and dragging her throught he doorway as gently as possible, careful not to hurt her unnecessarily.

As soon as they were in the other room, a loud scream tore through the air.

„KATARA!"

It was hard for her to keep from sobbing in relief. No matter how annoying Sokka could be, it was so good to hear his voice. At least he was alive and well.

„What did you do to her, you bastard?!"

Thao let go of her arms and turned to the cell, where Sokka was currently trying to get his hands on the soldier through the bars.

„I-I didn't do anything to her."

„Am I really supposed to believe that?" Sokka shouted, shaking his fist at the young man.

Katara cracked her eyes open, for once grateful that Sokka attracted so much attention. She instantly spotted the key dangling from Thao's hip on a silver ring, reflecting the light from the candle on a small table in the corner.

„HEY!"

The waterbender watched in amusement as Sokka threw a wooden plate after the soldier, coming nowhere near to hitting the mark. Instead the plate flew over Thao's shoulder and landed a few metres away from Katara.

She glanced at the still arguing males and then at the plate, formulating a plan and hoping she had the strenght to make it work.

She rose silently, gesturing to her tribe, who were watching her with relief, to be silent. Grabbing the plate from the floor, she sneaked up to the young soldier, hardly daring to breath. The waterbender lifted the plate with trembling hands, before letting it crash on Thao's head with all her strenght, watching with wide eyes as he crumbled to the floor silently.

Katara let out the breath she was holding. She had knocked more men unconscious today than she was comfortable with, considering she didn't approve of any kind of violence, even though she didn't have any other choice.

She quickly bent down to retrieve the keys, mentally apologizing to the young soldier. He may be from the Fire Nation, but he really didn't do anything to deserve this. He actually seemed to be a nice person.

After unlocking the door to the cell, she was immediatly enveloped in a tight hug from Sokka.

„God, I'm glad you're okay."

Before she could return the hug, he cleared his throat and stepped away from her, trying to appear casual. She rolled her eyes, before letting her gaze wander over the assembled group, checking if everyone was there.

„Where are Gran-Gran and the children?" she asked, alarmed when she couldn't find them. Sokka laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

„The older people and the children were all left behind in the village. I guess they had no use for them."

Katara sighed, hoping they were okay.

„Do you know where we are? I guess I was unconscious for some time."

He looked at her seriously.

„You've been out for days, sis. We are at the royal palace."

Katara rubbed her eyes tiredly. She had already suspected it, but had hoped she was wrong. It would be

almost impossible for a group of at least 10 people to escape from here unnoticed, but the waterbender knew they had to try at least. They had to get as many as possible to safety.

„Can you remember the way out? It's really easy to get lost in here."

He looked thoughtful for a moment, before nodding.

„Yes, I think so."

Katara nodded, looking the group over once more and noticing how many of them trembled or were obviously trying to hold back tears.

She gulped.

„Alright. Let's go."

TBC...

A/N: Thao means „courteous" in Vietnamese. It fits him and I think he'll definitely appear again in future chapters. I like him. :)


	9. Chapter 8: Runaway IV

A/N: Wohoo, next chapter! :) I won't be able to update for awhile, because I got loads of schoolwork (even though school hasn't even started yet...-.-), but enjoy anyway!

Runaway IV

„What?" Azula asked sharply, her fingers twitching.

She watched the two soldiers in front of her with narrowed eyes, analyzing every little movement, from their adverted eyes to the nervous shuffling of their feet.

The chin-bearded guard, seemingly the smarter one, lowered his head in a gesture of respect.

„Forgive us, Princess. We were under the impression you wouldn't want to be bothered with something so insignificant."

„Insignificant?A simple peasant managed to escape under the eyes of one of my soldiers and you call that _insignificant?" _she hissed.

Of course she knew that the girl wasn't just a simple peasant, but these soldiers needed to learn their place. She had found them talking about the waterbender in one of the corridors. It wasn't fit for a soldier not to notice when somebody was eavesdropping.

The soldier was about to reply, but she cut him off with a swift gesture of her hand. She didn't want to hear any of their idiotic excuses.

„I trust you were at least smart enough to bring her back to her cell?"

The two soldiers exchanged a glance.

„Yes, she should be safely locked up with the other ones by now."

Azula closed her eyes and took a deep breath, massaging her temples. Trust these incompetent imbeciles to make her task that much more difficult. She made the mistake of underestimating the girl once and she wouldn't do so again.

„Go and get more soldiers. _Nobody _will be able to get out of here without me knowing, is that clear?"

The guards glanced at each other again in confusion, but obeyed, hurrying away to do as she asked.

She rolled her eyes at them before striding confidently towards her destination, her thoughts once again on a certain waterbender.

******************

Azula narrowed her eyes, kneeling down beside the unconcscious man on the floor. Grabbing him roughly, she shook him violently until he groggily opened his eyes. As soon as it registered in his mind who had woken him, he scrambled to his feet, staring at her with wide eyes.

„P-princess Azula, I...-"

He didn't get a chance to finish, because she stoop up and pressed one sharp nail to his neck, almost breaking the skin.

„Where are the prisoners?" she asked through clenched teeth.

He quickly looked at the empty cell and then at the Princess, seemingly unable to get out a coherent sentence.

„I-I, I mean, they...-"

Azula rolled her eyes in annoyance and he quickly shut up, looking at the floor. No wonder they hadn't won the war yet. These soldiers were completly useless.

She let him go and made her way to the stairs with clenched fists, trying hard not to burn the worm out of existence.

„Come with me!"

She didn't look back to see if he followed her or not. As incompetent as they might be, her chance of capturing the peasants was greater if some soldiers helped her. Once out of the dungeons, she stopped another small group of soldiers with a hissed „Follow me." and continued down the corridor, eyes scanning every little crevice the prisoners might be hiding in.

************************************

Katara glanced around the corner, quickly drawing back when she noticed the three guards keeping watch.

„We can't sneak past them." she whispered to Sokka, eyeing the group of scared women worriedly.

He nodded and scratched at his chin in thought, before his face lightened up.

„We need some kind of distraction. I'll attract their attention and lead them away. Then you and the other ones can go on."

The waterbender frowned.

„But what about you?"

Sokka flexed his muscled and grinned confidently, but she noticed that the grin didn't reach his eyes and that his fingers trembled lightly.

„Eh, you know me. I'll be alright. These soldiers won't know what hit them."

She didn't want him to sacrifice himself like that, but she knew that he was the best choice for the task, since he was a faster runner than she was.

„Be careful, alright?"

The waterbender hugged him tightly, getting the distinct feeling that she might not see him for a long time.

„Of course, sis." he answered, trying to sound surer of himself than he felt.

She extracted herself from Sokka and he took one last breath before stepping into the corridor, a fake smirk plastered on his face.

„Hey, bastards! Bet you can't even catch a weak peasant like me!"

With that, he ran past them into the opposite direction of where the waterbender and the other women stood, sticking out his tongue at the disgruntled soldiers.

„Get him!" one of them bellowed and Katara heard their hurried steps and Sokka's shouts get lower.

She looked around the corner once more. Everything seemed to be clear now.

„Alright, let's move."

The group proceeded into the hallway and despite, or maybe because of, the silence dominating the atmosphere, the waterbender got the uncomfortable feeling in her gut that something just wasn't right. Katara shook her head. She couldn't let herself stop in the middle of the hallway to wonder about something like that and make the group of women seem like an easy target.

Her steps were apruptly halted when a scream tore through the air behind her. She whipped around immediatly and looked into the grim eyes of a smirking soldier.

The waterbender glanced at the alcove embedded into the wall, which was no loner covered with curtains and cursed inwardly. Why hadn't they bothered to check if was empty? They had run straight into a trap.

Her eyes flitted around the corridor nervously, assessing the situation and looking for anymore surprises.

Steps and voices sounded in the distance and Katara had the uncomfortable feeling they were about to get even more company.

The guard turned his head towards the noise and she used his temporary distraction to shout „Run!".

That was when all hell broke loose. The other women immediatly began to scatter in all directions, running around in a frenzied chaos and it reminded the waterbender of a scared group of hens. However, it proved to be a not altogether futile tactic, since the soldier seemed to have a hard time deciding who to pursue first.

He hesitated for a long moment, before he finally had enough sense to grab the nearest woman. He was promptly hit in the nose by a stray fist and a disgustingly scrunchy noise filled the air, while the woman in his grasp freed herself and followed the others down the corridor.

The thundering steps in the distance were now not so distant anymore and Katara knew that every moment more guards would round the corner. Her chest constricted in fear at the thought of Azula being

with them. She could only hope that the Princess thought her not important enough to bother with getting her personally.

She spotted an armour-clad leg appearing from behind the corridor and it spurred her into action. With one last glance to the soldier desperately trying to stem the blood flowing from his nose, she ran down the corridor, turning sharply around the corner.

Katara gasped as something crashed into her chest, or rather, she crashed into something. She got the wind knocked out of her and stumbled, the ground approaching rather quickly.

Her fall was halted by a pair of strong arms catching her and pressing her flush against a decidedly female body.

„Got you."

The waterbenders eyes widened in panic, her heart beating frantically, as she looked up into the cold, amber eyes of the Fire Nation Princess herself.

„You've proven to be quite an annoyance for a simple peasant."

Katara stared into the liquid pools of gold, momentarily frozen in fear at the steely quality in Azula's voice. The Princess tightened her grip on her waist and she bit back a sharp gasp as sharp nails dug into her skin.

From the corners of her eyes she could see that the other women were trying to fight the soldiers that had appeared, but it was easy to see that they had little chance of succeding. Katara tried to wriggle out of Azula's grip, conveniently blocking out the thought that it was the first time she had ever been pressed so intimately against another human being.

„You're quite stubborn, aren't you?"

The waterbender ignored her and simply struggled harder, laying both of her hands on Azula's shoulders and pushing.

Azula rolled her eyes in annoyance. Most of her patience had already flown out of the window while dealing with her soldiers and she could not guarantee the girls' safety if she continued to show such impertinence. Not to mention that her arms slowly began to tire from keeping the little waterbender where she was, even though she did enjoy having the girl pressed against her like that.

„Stop that." she growled low in her throat, danger imminent in her voice.

But Katara was blinded by her instinctual need to get as far away from the threat as possible and didn't hear her or feel her body stiffen. Azula clenched her teeth and, holding the waterbender securely with one arm, lay the tips of two fingers on her temple.

Katara felt a familiar sting in her right temple and her last thought before she passed out was that this seemed to become a rather uncomfortable habit.

TBC...

A/N: Boy, am I glad that I could finish this chapter. My little brother seemed intent on pestering me the whole week. Still love the lil' bugger, though. :)

The next chapter will be full of delicious Azula/Katara interaction! Yay! :D


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